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Friday, November 11, 2011

Diabetes By The Numbers

Diabetes: Overall Impact

Total: 25.8 million people have diabetes--more than 8 percent of the US population.

About 60 to 70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of diabetic nerve damage (which often includes impaired sensation or pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion of food in the stomach, etc.). Severe forms of diabetic nerve damage can lead to lower-extremity amputations.

More than 60 percent of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations in the US occur among people with diabetes.

After an amputation, the chance of another amputation within 3 to 5 years is as high as 50 percent.

The rate of amputation for people with diabetes is 10 times higher than for people without the disease.

Preventing Diabetes Complications

According to a Thomson Reuters Healthcare study, the US health-care system could save $3.5 billion annually if every American at risk for developing a diabetic foot ulcer visited a podiatrist once, before complications set in.

Today’s podiatrists are qualified by their education, training, and experience to diagnose and treat conditions affecting the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg, and play an integral role in a diabetes management team.

Diabetes can affect many parts of the body and can lead to serious complications such as blindness, kidney damage, and lower-limb amputations. Working together as a team, those with diabetes and their health-care providers can reduce the occurrence of many diabetes complications.